What it is and what it ain’t
Are you woke?
Woke is a word that, like most other four lettered words, is loaded with insinuation, presumption, and implication. However, this one word that is used as a slang term means one thing and has transformed into a completely different monstrosity.
The first time I ever heard the term woke was in the military of all places. A fellow trainee soldier was nodding off and our instructor loudly asked in his Atlanta twang…
“Hey Private, you woke?”
It was a way to both excuse the nodding off and make him aware of his surroundings with a warning. So it makes sense when the term woke was transposed onto the political scene because, the word woke as it is known today is “to be aware or alert to racial prejudice and discrimination”. So, by that context, what makes Woke such a divisive word? Why do people use it to draw lines in the sand?
But what about X?
What about when people use woke as a political statement? What about when people use it as a hashtag? What about how people make it part of literally everything? Ok, slow down, I’m not here to tell you why people do things, I’m here to explain to you that being woke is not a political movement, being woke is not a culture, being woke isn’t even a T-shirt. Being woke is being aware that racism and discrimination is as American as apple pie or pumpkin spice. Now, what people choose to do with that knowledge is different. If this knowledge inspires political action, then good. Because we can all agree that racism and discrimination is not good for society. Look, we all know that racism and discrimination is bad right?
Wrong.
If we knew it was bad then “woke” would’ve never evolved into the the divisive beast that it is. The issue is that woke, just like Che Guevara‘s face, has been attributed to a cause and now people hear woke and have an immediate response, either favorable, unfavorable or ambivalent. The fact of the matter remains is that Woke is one thing. What people ascribe to it is something else entirely.
What woke should be…
Wokeness isn’t something that should divide us. It should be something that allows for dialogue and then action. The only problem is that for those who are woke, they’re tired of talking and are now shouting, some are even screaming. Those who choose to ignore what’s coming are in a blissful, or at least an annoyed, willful ignorance. But if the events of Jan 6 have told us one thing, it is that a portion of the United States does not want the status quo to change for the better. So what do we do? It seems that we are at a cultural impasse. Action of any sort leads to denial, devaluation, ridicule, repression, incarceration and a whole list of other negative outcomes. Do we hit them in their pocket? The mighty dollar does a lot of damage when it is a concerted effort. But, too many people live paycheck to paycheck and are in need. Do we carry it out in forums like this? Speaking out against the injustices we deal with everyday, knowing full well that champagne problems are not an injustice. What do we do?
Light beyond the horizon
I don’t know what to do. Racism and discrimination has been such a constant pillar in America that it is almost un-American not to be racist or classicist. Maybe the answer is in changing what being American means. The idea of an American has been one idea for far too long in both the rest of the world’s mind and our minds too. I think we should make it about being part of a flavorful mix of everything. In the United States we have so many cultures mashed up together. In every major city there is at representation from almost every corner of the world. It’s amazing! If we can emphasize our humanity then the things that divide us can be things that unite us. It’ll no longer about what I don’t have but, about what we do have. We can celebrate variety and look at it all from a world point of view rather than just my point of view.
Variety’s the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavour. -William Cowper
Conclusion
When we think about being woke let’s stop conflating it with everything else and strip it back down to its core. This person who is woke it pointing out an injustice that they’re seeing. Let’s weigh it out and identify what is causing this injustice. Let’s look at the argument and not at the emotion because chances are this person has been trying to say it peacefully and has escalated their engagement when the peaceful way wasn’t being heard. Let’s be woke to their wokeness. Let’s hear them out and listen actively to what they have to say. If we can help then we offer a hand, if we can’t for whatever reason then we can simply bow out. At the very least that person will be heard and seen and that is miles greater than a complete shut down. Let’s take into account our humanity before our politics and let’s try to be better.
So, will you be woke? Or, are you gonna stay asleep?
Thank you for reading.
